


Quince Minutos

by BetaCobra



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Aggression, Friendship, Gen, Sexist Language, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25387963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BetaCobra/pseuds/BetaCobra
Summary: Post S2 - After Miguel wakes up in the hospital, Hawk comes to visit him.
Relationships: Miguel Diaz & Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
Comments: 8
Kudos: 42





	Quince Minutos

**Author's Note:**

> This is an expansion on a previous drabble posted in "No Shelter"

Miss Diaz was nice and let him in. Keep it brief, she’d requested. No more than fifteen minutes. She didn’t want him to tire Miguel out. That was enough for Hawk right then. And he wondered if he would’ve been as lucky if he’d worn his Cobra Kai shirt that day.

He stepped into the room, thankful that at least Miss Diaz was going to give them some privacy. Not too much, he knew. She’d be right outside, ready in a heartbeat to rush through the door in case some alarm went off. The thought of that happening felt like a punch to Hawk’s stomach while he walked over to Miguel’s bedside, but he swore not to show it as he felt Miguel’s eyes follow him there.

His face looked less puffy and swollen since the last time Hawk had ventured to the hospital to try and visit. He’d chickened out on that day, unable to stand seeing Miguel looking the way he did so soon after what happened.

But even though the bruises had mostly vanished, the braces were still there, wrapped around Miguel’s neck and chest. Various tubes coiled over his body, probably hooking him up to oxygen, IV drips, a catheter, all of those things that were once impossible to imagine someone as strong as Miguel having no control over.

Standing there by his bed, it almost made Hawk want to run out again. Maybe he wasn’t as tough and brave as he thought he was. But no wussing out this time, he reminded himself. No looking like a pussy in front of Miguel.

So, beating down that impulse, he blurted out the first thought on his mind. “You look like shit, man.”

Miguel let out a laugh that sounded more like a cough, one that looked like it wracked his chest to push out. Hawk regretted his words, wondering if it hurt him to laugh like that. But a grin spread over Miguel’s face, and Hawk’s insides lightened. It was great seeing Miguel smile again. “Tell me something I don’t know,” his friend said, lifting his hand off the bed for a fist bump.

Hawk returned the smile and his gesture.

He had so much he wanted to say right then. So much had happened in what felt like the blink of an eye: Hawk wanted to tell Miguel about the media shitstorm following the school fight; about how all the grownups passed the blame around like a bomb; how Miyagi-Do had shut down, yet the kids at school now treated them like badasses for winning; how drama and rage and hurt swirled around him those days like a constant tumultuous hurricane.

“Like, how are things at Cobra Kai?”

Cobra Kai had been his shelter during the hurricane.

“We’re all waiting for you to come back,” answered Hawk, his grin widening to reassure Miguel that they hadn’t forgotten him. How could they have? Hawk wouldn’t let them.

Miguel’s eyes drifted over to the door, tilting his head as little as he could with his neck wrapped in the brace. Hawk followed his gaze and saw Miss Diaz looking through the window there. He saw the open concern, the worry that could only come from a parent. And he understood. Miguel must have been worried whether his mother was going to become an obstacle to him returning to Cobra Kai.

Hawk wanted to promise him it would be okay. He knew Miguel would convince his mom to let him back, especially now that management had switched hands at Cobra Kai. Now they had a Sensei who didn’t set them up to fail, one who was teaching them how to really defend themselves, to finish the fight so nobody could take advantage of them ever again.

Soon enough things would be able to go back to the way they used to be. Hawk latched onto that bit of optimism like a lifeline. If there was one thing karate had taught them, it was that it didn’t matter how often you got thrown down; you always got up again.

Miguel, more than anyone else, had to know that. Kyler hadn’t kept him down. Neither would Keene….

“The police picked up Keene,” said Hawk, the pitch of his voice lowering. His hands clenched around the bed rail as his eyes swept up Miguel’s body again, remembering vividly that it was Robby who’d done this to him. “I hear they’re sending his ass to juvie.”

“Really?” Miguel’s face pinched in what looked like confusion. Then a more guarded expression tried covering it up, but Hawk sensed how upset Miguel was to be reminded of what landed him in the hospital, the reason he was hooked up to all these things. He didn’t mean to remind him of it. But, being here, was it ever really off his mind?

Hawk didn’t know what to say to make him feel less shitty. What came out of his mouth was, “I just wish I could’ve gotten to him first. I would’ve made that asshole pay for what he did.” Robby deserved to be in this hospital bed, Hawk thought bitterly. Not Miguel.

His friend’s face was still hard to read, and he didn’t say anything more. He mustn’t have been in a mood to talk about it. So Hawk let it drop. There’d be time to talk about all of that later.

After all, eventually they would let Robby out of juvie. And Hawk would be there waiting for him.

Miguel parted his lips and a question hung silently loose from them for a moment before spilling out, the one Hawk didn’t want to hear. “What about Sensei?”

It sounded like his throat had constricted as he asked it. He had a different face now. Miguel looked desperate, like he was clinging to a shred of hope. Sad? Yeah. He looked sadder than Hawk could ever remember him. Sadder even than after Sam dumped him.

Hawk wondered if he was misreading that look. Was Miguel about to cry? He didn’t know what he would do if Miguel started crying. Especially over this.

Miguel couldn’t possibly be missing Sensei Lawrence, could he?

“Sensei’s gone,” stated Hawk, trying his hardest to keep the rough edge out of his voice. For Miguel’s sake. “Sensei Kreese came back. He’s in charge of Cobra Kai now.”

Miguel’s mouth hung agape, his face twisting in disbelief. “What? Gone? What do you mean?” His voice sounded so small, so unlike him. It clenched Hawk’s gut like a bear trap to hear his voice break like that. He wondered if he could explain things better, to tell Miguel not to worry, that even if this news must’ve felt like a complete blowback, it was for the best.

But his friend looked so miserable, without a trace of that smile he’d been wearing a few minutes ago. Would he listen to anything Hawk tried to tell him? Why, though? Why wouldn’t Miguel be relieved the man responsible for him being here wasn’t in charge of things anymore?

A needling voice in the back of Hawk’s head reminded him this wasn’t the first time Sensei had sent a student to the hospital. Hadn’t Hawk done mental gymnastics at the time to explain to himself why it hadn’t been Sensei’s fault he’d sicked that dog on him in the junkyard? Hadn’t he wanted nothing more than to get back to Cobra Kai, back to Sensei’s lessons, even as he’d been subjected to a series of rabies shots?

Was Miguel doing the same thing now while lying in this hospital bed, strapped to all of these wires? Was he making those same mental leaps to have it make sense to himself?

Deep down, Hawk knew why Miguel would sooner blame himself for what happened than lay any blame on Sensei. And that only made things worse. Because this was different. Miguel and Sensei had been close. And Hawk had to wonder, had Sensei Lawrence not been here to see Miguel even once? Had he seen the damage he’d done?

Probably not. All Sensei cared about was Robby. He’d punish Hawk and Miguel for hurting his son, but since when had Sensei ever cared about getting any of _them_ hurt? For as close as they had supposedly been, why would Miguel be any different? Even if Miguel had almost died….

Hawk felt angrier at that moment than he’d ever been since the day of the fight. It burned through his veins like acid.

“Hawk?”

At the soft sound of his name, Hawk was jolted back to the present, and rolled his shoulders back to loosen the gathering tension from them. He glanced at the doorway again, where Miss Diaz was now standing. He guessed his fifteen minutes were up.

Giving one more solemn look at Miguel, Hawk reached down and clasped his hand firmly in his own for a few seconds; a wordless promise that he’d come back on another day, that he would explain more then.


End file.
